In the last 20 years, technological advancement and increased multidisciplinarity has expanded the range of data regarded as within the scope of languages for specific purposes (LSP) research and the means by which they can be analyzed. As a result, the analytical work of LSP researchers has developed from a narrow focus on specialist terminology…

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of conducting ethnographic research. Methodology definition and key characteristics are given. The stages of the research process are described including preparation, data gathering and recording, and analysis. Important issues such as reliability and validity are also discussed.

This article challenges the content of most marketing research courses whereby students are indoctrinated into the qualitative-then-quantitative archetype commonly found in scholarly research, under the assumption that it is both sufficient and appropriate when equipping students with the necessary skills for business. By following this standard…

The research needs in special education are so great that a range of scientific inquiry (including technical and naturalistic ethnographic research) is needed to better understand how to meet those needs through acquired technical, communicative, and self-reflective knowledge. While effective, neither technical nor naturalistic ethnographic…

A response to a previous article discounting the effectiveness and contributions of the natural science model in special education research points out flaws in the article's premises and rationale and emphasizes the need for pluralism in research methodology, including correlational, ethnographic, group-contrast, historiographic, qualitative, and…

Discusses the nature of ethnographic work, particularly in relation to the study of deafness. The kinds of information presented in ethnographies is explored, as are ethnography's limitations. Problems of and strategies for doing ethnographic research and writing ethnographies about deaf communities are explored. (20 references) (JL)

Explores the possibility of expanding the research base in distance education through the use of three well-known and accepted qualitative methodologies used by anthropology and sociology: ethnography, case study, and grounded theory. Each methodology's characteristics and main strengths are described. (MBR)

Argues against the indiscriminate use of the term "ethnography" and offers various criteria that have been suggested as distinguishing the ethnographic investigation. (HOD)

From the assumption that all social reality can be usefully viewed as the processes whereby people act and interact in everyday life, this paper argues that the macroanalysis characterizing most comparative education research must be replaced by systematic observation and analysis of the microcosmic world of everyday school life. (Author/SJL)

Reports interim results of five separate studies of preservice teacher-research issues. Discusses eight cross-cutting themes that deserve further examination, including: expectations of teacher educators are crucial; teacher research and student teaching are integrated; those who instruct in teacher research should model it in their practice; and…

The development of behaviorally-anchored rating scales (BARS) will permit researchers measuring the effectiveness of school administrators to utilize sound, ethnographic methods instead of relying on traditional, theory-based rating systems. In this document the author describes his own modified process for developing BARS and explains the…

A transactional investigation of reading considers comprehension to be more than the duplication of the author's message. Rather, it entails the readers' interpretation of the textual representation that he or she has constructed. Thus, researchers must ask how the reader duplicated the author's creative role. The goal, in other words, is to…

Summarizes recently articulated research needs in business and technical communication. Argues that qualitative studies of writing on the job and in the classroom are the most needed form of empirical research. Shows how research can be conducted using one type of qualitative research, ethnography. (JAD)

A rebuttal to three responses to an article opposing use of the natural science-technical model in special education research suggests that the responses demonstrate a continuing vitality of the positivist ideology critically opposed in the original article. (Author/CB)

This paper first addresses assumptions about teaching and scholarly research, drawing from feminist theory in communication and women's studies. Second, the paper discusses one scholar's commitments as ethnographer and teacher to students, research participants, colleagues and others, including ways to enact those commitments in the classroom and…